A government minister in Trinidad and Tobago resigned Friday, the day after a regional football association issued a lengthy report accusing him of fraud.

Jack Warner served as president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football from 1990 until his resignation in 2011. During that time he reportedly steered $26 million of CONCACAF’s money and funds from the international FIFA football association to the construction of a 16-acre complex in Trinidad called the “Center of Excellence.”

Though he gave the impression that the land belonged to CONCACAF, Mr. Warner actually owned it, the organisation alleged in its “Commission of Integrity” report. Additionally, Mr. Warner “induced” FIFA to send money that should have been used for the centre’s development to bank accounts that he controlled.

Other allegations

Chuck Blazer, CONCACAF’s former general secretary, was also named in the report for similar allegations of fraud.

He reportedly authorised the organisation to pay him more than $15 million “in the form of commissions, fees, and rent expenses without obtaining proper authorisation,” the report states. Both men then covered up the fraud for years, the report alleged.

“First, Warner and Blazer repeatedly issued financial statements that they knew contained misrepresentations and material omissions,” the report stated. “Second, they represented that the financial statements were subject to independent audits when they knew that the auditor used by CONCACAF was not independent and did not engage in activities one would normally associate with an audit.”

Neither man agreed to testify before the integrity commission and both have denied the charges.

Mr. Warner called the allegations “baseless and malicious,” according to the newspaper The Economist. He resigned as Trinidad and Tobago’s minister of works and national security on Friday. The country’s prime minister, Kamla Persad Bissessar, said she accepted his resignation because the scandal has become a “major distraction,” according to the newspaper.

“Mr. Warner’s resignation from the Cabinet comes with a degree of regret as he was a highly industrious and productive member of the government,” she said.

Previous allegation

Mr. Warner resigned his CONCACAF post and renounced other connections with international football associations in 2011 amid allegations that he and then-FIFA Executive Committee member Mohamed Bin Hammam offered envelopes of cash to Caribbean Football Union executives at a May 2011 meeting.

A video reportedly taken at the meeting appears to show Mr. Warner offering the “gifts” of cash to members and then proposing to take it back from “anybody here who has a conscience and wishes to give back the money.”

He then said that the money could be given to a football executive in another country.

“Give it to Trinidad and Tobago, give it Anguilla, give it Barbados if you don’t want it,” Mr. Warner is recorded as saying.

At that point in the video, Franka Pickering, the then-head of the BVI Football Association, smiled and raised her hand, according to the video.

“Correct, give it to BVI,” Mr. Warner responded in apparent response to Ms. Pickering’s gesture.

Ms. Pickering was later banned by FIFA’s Ethics Committee from participating in FIFA activities for 18 months and fined about $550. She resigned her position with the VI club, which issued a statement about the bribery allegations.

“We would like to remind the public that despite the misconception and often inaccurate speculations on various blogs recently, the BVI Football Association has not been implicated in the receipt or acceptance of any bribes, nor has Ms. Pickering,” the BVIFA announced.

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